NASA Outsources to the ISS: Resident Astronaut

To cut costs, NASA plans to outsource its shipping jobs.

The reusable K-1 rocket, one of two designs that could ship cargo to the space station.

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It's not a glamorous mission — hauling water, food, spare parts and clean clothes to the International Space Station (ISS) — but somebody has to do it. The shuttle was the truck of choice when my crew delivered the Destiny Laboratory to the ISS in 2001. But now, with the shuttle orbiters heading for retirement by 2010, NASA wants commercial suppliers to take on the orbital shipping job, to lower costs and spur industrywide innovation.

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Since ISS crews moved in six years ago, the space shuttle and Russia's unmanned Progress freighters have made deliveries. But the Columbia accident grounded the shuttle fleet for over two years, and the Progress's small capacity forced even two-man ISS crews into sometimes spartan operations. Last year, spacesuits aboard the ISS were out of commission for months waiting for spare parts.

The two companies getting NASA seed money (over $100 million each) for cargo craft are SpaceX and Rocketplane Kistler. SpaceX plans to loft its Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket, but the smaller Falcon 1 caught fire and plunged into the Pacific last spring. With $100 million invested, the company hopes a second launch this winter will pave the way for the Falcon 9.

Rocketplane Kistler's craft, a reusable K-1 two-stage rocket, has yet to reach a launchpad. But John Herrington, director of flight operations and a former shuttle astronaut, says the K-1 will not only reach the ISS, but return cargo safely to Earth.

Both firms plan to fly three test flights by 2010. The end of the shuttle era is upon us. But future crews won't care who delivers their cargo. They'll just want it to show up on time.